News From The Queens Tourism Council
Let’s be honest. Queens is the best borough for Halloween fun.
Youngsters travel all the way from the Bronx to trick-or-treat on our residential blocks. Plus, the week before the main event offers some of the best, most creative activities.
Without leaving the borough, funseekers can take a spooky guided tour of a Kew Gardens cemetery, enjoy an underwater Halloween at a Corona museum or watch a movie with creepy live musical accompaniment in Sunnyside. Other upcoming options include dancing in the streets of Corona, walking for a cause through Flushing, laughing at political satire in Bayside and listening to live Jazz in Jamaica.
Here’s the rundown:
• Friday, Oct. 19 through Saturday, Oct. 27, Retrospective on Filipino Filmmaker Raya Martin. The Museum of the Moving Image (MMI) will present seven feature films by Raya Martin and one of his video installations (Independencia, The Island at the End of the World, A Short Film about the Indio Nacional, Next Attraction, Autohystoria, The Great Cinema Party and Now Showing). Martin will appear in person on Oct. 19 with a screening of Independencia. Born in Manila in 1984, Martin has more than a dozen films to his credit: an ambitious, constantly evolving body of work consisting of fiction features, documentaries, shorts and installations. MMI, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria, 1-718-777-6888.
• Friday, Oct. 19, The Commitments and The Christening, 7:30 p.m. The New York Irish Center (NYIC) will screen The Commitments, which follows the travails of Jimmy Rabbitte as he forms the “World’s Hardest Working Band” and brings soul music to Dublin. In The Christening, Ailbhe is smart, confident and outspoken. Nothing fazes her, except her nephew’s upcoming christening. NYIC, 10-40 Jackson Ave., Long Island City, 1-718-482-0909.
• Saturday, Oct. 20, Halloween Tour & Carved Pumpkin Contest, 2 to 6:30 p.m. At 2 p.m., the day will begin for adults and children 12 years and older with the “Strange and Unusual with a Touch of the Paranormal Walking Tour,” an annual favorite. Maple Grove Cemetery’s historian Carl Ballenas will share some true tales that should only be told at Halloween. At 3:45 p.m., a 15-minute children’s costume parade will lead to expert storytelling, face painting, holiday crafts and lots of carved pumpkins. To participate in the Carved Pumpkin Contest, bring a pre-carved pumpkin with a candle inside. Pumpkin drop off is 3 to 5 p.m. with viewing 5 to 6 p.m. Suggested donation: $5. MGC, 83-15 Kew Gardens Rd., Kew Gardens, 1-917- 881-3358.
• Saturday, Oct. 20, Boo! An Underwater Halloween Spooktacular, 2 to 5 p.m. Zombie surfers, mummy mermaids, artists and guests dive into the deep sea for the third annual Spooktacular, inspired by Queens Museum of Art’s (QMA) current exhibition Caribbean: Crossroads of the World. Consider a shipwreck treasure hunt, a phosphorescent photo booth, sea monster mask-making, seaweed serenade, starfish Tarot card reading, coral reef candy sculptures and an underwater costumer parade. $75 for up to six family members, including two adults; $35 for one adult and one child. Includes one-year family QMA membership. QMA, New York City Building, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, 1-718-592-9700.
• Saturday, Oct. 20, Jazz by Tulivu Donna Cumberbatch, 8 to 11:30 p.m. Join Tulivu Donna Cumberbatch and her band for a night of quality Jazz. Cumberbatch has been compared to Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin and Sarah Vaughn. She performs frequently at Jazz clubs and festivals throughout New York City. Afrikan Poetry Theatre, 176-03 Jamaica Ave., Jamaica, 1-718-523-3312.
• Sunday, Oct. 21, An Afternoon of Bolero in Corona Plaza, 1 to 5 p.m. Popular for more than a century, Bolero is a genre of romantic, slowtempo music and dance. Lyrics are usually in Spanish, and many Latin American countries have their own Bolero styles. Enjoy an afternoon of this genre at the recently renovated Corona Plaza with live music and a deejay. Plus, clients of the IPR/HE Corona Senior Center will be the guests of honor, dancing in the streets. Corona Plaza, 103rd Street and Roosevelt Avenue, 1-347-927- 7895.
• Sunday, Oct. 21, Take the Money and Run for President, 3 p.m. Always topical, always current, always hilarious, the Capitol Steps performance troupe has sung about and spoofed the famous and infamous from one end of the political spectrum to the other. In Take the Money and Run for President, Republican hopefuls and one Democrat who’s worried about losing his job get the funny business. The greatest political comedy of the last year includes guest appearances by Anthony Weiner, Moammar Khadafy, Chris Christie and of course Sarah Palin. Admission charged. Queensborough Performing Arts Center, 222-05 56th Ave., Bayside, 1-718-631-6311.
• Sunday, Oct. 21, Fourth Annual Queens Interfaith Unity Walk, 1 p.m. The Interfaith Council of Flushing, which strives to build and foster understanding and common ground among faiths, will spearhead a unity walk. Route: Hindu Center Temple, 45-52 Kissena Blvd.; Muslim Center of New York, 137-58 Geranium Ave.; New York Chens Buddha Associates, 46-38 Kissena Blvd.; Hindu Temple Society of North America, 45-57 Bowne St.; St. Mary’s Nativity Church, 143-07 Holly Ave.; and Free Synagogue of Flushing, 41-60 Kissena Blvd. For more information, contact Runitalsutton@gmail.com.
The “It’s In Queens” column is produced by the Queens Tourism Council with the hope that readers will enjoy the borough’s attractions.
